The Red Hulk’s debut in Phase 5 isn’t the only major Marvel moment that has been spoiled in a trailer for aMarvel Cinematic Universemovie or TV show. Marvel Studios has often tried to push the limits when releasing MCU trailers, perhaps most evident in the trailers forAvengers: Endgame,The Fantastic Four: First Stepsand, more recently,Thunderbolts*, all of which gave away very little about their project’s story. However,not every MCU trailer has been so secretive, and some have featured some huge revelations.
Captain America: Brave New World’strailers spoiledone of the most exciting moments of the Phase 5 movie, but this is just the latest in a long line of MCU trailers that have ruined huge developments and plot threads. This dates back to the beginning of the MCU with 2008’sIron Man, thoughSpider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessandDeadpool & Wolverinehave been some of the biggest offenders. Marvel seems to be moving toward more secrecy in its recent trailers, so hopefully there will be more shocks in the MCU’s future.
10Red Hulk Featured Prominently In Captain America: Brave New World’s Trailers
Red Hulk Appeared In Captain America: Brave New World’s First Teaser Trailer In February 2024
Harrison Ford taking over the role of Thaddeus Ross from the late William Hurt inCaptain America: Brave New Worldspurred theories that Ross would finally be transforming into Red Hulk, following in his Marvel Comics counterpart’s footsteps.This information could have easily been spared for the final theatrical cut of the movie, especially since Ross' transformation is teased throughout the movie. However,Ross' evolution into Red Hulkwas confirmed in the very first teaser trailer forCaptain America: Brave New Worldback in February 2024.
In subsequent trailers, Red Hulk played a pivotal role, suggesting the villain would have been the primary antagonist of Sam Wilson’s Captain America. This wasn’t the case inCaptain America: Brave New World, however, and, in fact,most of Red Hulk’s scenes from the movie were seen beforehand in various trailers. This was disappointing, as President Ross becoming Red Hulk would have been far more impactful had this transformation been omitted from the trailers, andSamuel Sterns' Leadercould have instead had a larger role inBrave New World’strailers.
9Iron Man’s Trailer Revealed Who The Movie’s Villain Was Too Soon
Iron Man’s First Trailer Gave Away Most Of The Movie’s Story
The very first trailer for the MCU’s debut movie, 2008’sIron Man, practically gave away the movie’s entire plot, including revealingJeff Bridges' Obadiah Staneto be Tony Stark’s main adversary.Iron Man’sfirst trailer saw Stark abducted by the Ten Rings, forge his Iron Man suit, go toe-to-toe with Stane’s Iron Monger and even kill the MCU’s first villain. Nowadays, revealing so much in a trailer for an MCU movie simply wouldn’t fly. However, back in the early days of the MCU, it was necessary to get viewers in theaters forIron Man.
There was next to no anticipation forIron Manduring the movie’s development, so director Jon Favreau and Marvel Studios knewthe trailer needed to really sell Tony Stark’s wit, reveal the highlights of his origin story and put the action of Iron Man’s battle with Obadiah Stane on display. It certainly did all this, and the huge reveals in the trailer didn’t stopIron Manfrom becoming one of the most beloved and influential superhero movies of all time. Even so, it was a shame so much was spoiled months before the movie even premiered.
8The Hulk Saves Iron Man At The End Of The Avengers’ Trailer
The Avengers' Ending Was Spoiled In The Movie’s UK Trailer
Marvel has previously tried to use mostly scenes from the beginning of the MCU’s movies and shows in promotional trailers, but 2012’sThe Avengersdid not follow this pattern. In fact,the first UK trailer forThe Avengers, known asAvengers Assembleacross the pond, which was released in February 2012, featured a lot of scenes from the Battle of New York, including one of the movie’s climactic moments. After Stark sends a nuclear missile through Loki’s portal, the Hulk stops his fall back to Earth, saving his life, which is seen in Marvel UK’s trailer.
By the time this trailer released, 2013’sIron Man 3had already been confirmed to be in development, so it was very unlikely that Tony Stark would have lost his life in the battle against Loki and the Chitauri. However, it’s shocking that Marvel thought it relevant to include theending ofThe Avengersin the movie’s trailer, even ifthe context and meaning of this scene wouldn’t become known until the movie’s actual release. It’s hard to imagine Marvel ruining the ending of any upcomingAvengersmovie, so it’s surprising the studio did this for the MCU’s very first.
7Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s Trailer Spoiled Its Ending
Project Insight’s Helicarrier Destroys The Triskelion In Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s Trailer
As well as spoiling the epic elevator battle, the identity of the Winter Soldier and the fact that Nick Fury survives HYDRA’s attack,Captain America: The Winter Soldier’sfirst trailer, released in October 2013, ruined the ending of the Phase 2 movie, too.The Winter Soldier’smost intense storyline saw HYDRA activate threeProject Insight helicarriersintended to wipe out many threats to HYDRA, including some of the world’s most powerful superheroes. However, the movie’s trailer shows these helicarriers crashing to the ground, confirming HYDRA is defeated.
Despite the trailers ruining so much of the theatrical cut of the movie,Captain America: The Winter Soldieris still the second-most-successfulCaptain Americamovie in the MCU, falling behindCivil War.The Winter Soldierhas been praised as one of the MCU’s strongest installments, so it seems spoiling most of the movie’s events had little impact on the overall popularity of the sequel. Nevertheless,The Winter Soldiercopied traits from trailers such asIron ManandThe Avengers, spoiling almost the entire plot of its film.
6Spider-Man’s MCU Debut Was Spoiled In Captain America: Civil War’s Trailer
Tom Holland Was Cast As Peter Parker’s Spider-Man In 2015
With only two months until the movie’s premiere,Captain America: Civil War’ssecond official trailer, released in March 2016, revealed thatPeter Parker’s Spider-Manwould be appearing in the epic pseudo-Avengersmovie. Of course, as one of Marvel’s most popular and profitable properties, it made sense thatCivil Warwould want to capitalize on Spider-Man’s inclusion. However,it was wild that Spider-Man made his MCU debut in a trailer, and not in the actual theatrical cut of the Phase 3 crossover- not everyone would have known about Tom Holland’s casting in July 2015.
Loosely based on one of Marvel Comics' most thrilling events, and featuring most of the main cast of the MCU until that point,Captain America: Civil Warwas one of Marvel’s most highly-anticipated projects. This was the case even before Spider-Man was revealed to be involved in the movie’s second official trailer, which meant that this massive cast reveal could have been spared for the actual film. This in no way diminished Spider-Man’s debut, as it was still incredible to see Holland’s Peter Parker in action, but it could have been even more impactful.
5Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Trailer Included All Of Its Returning Villains
No Way Home’s Multiverse Storyline Became Known In The Movie’s First Teaser
Speaking of Spider-Man, it was the first teaser trailer forSpider-Man: No Way Home, released in August 2021, that revealed Tom Holland’s Peter Parker would be going up against returning multiversal villains.The teaser marks the returns of Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Jamie Foxx’s Electro and Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman, while later trailers revealed Rhys Ifans' return as the Lizard. It would have been far more shocking if Marvel had marketedNo Way Homeas a low-stakes story exploring the world finding out Spider-Man’s true identity, but the opposite was delivered.
This was evidently another case of revealing something huge to get people to turn up to theaters. Marvel Studios hit an unfortunate lull followingAvengers: Endgameand the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant that several Phase 4 movies didn’t fare as well as they could have.It was surely a worry thatSpider-Man: No Way Homewouldn’t match the success of its predecessors. Revealing the multiversal villains' returns certainly helpedNo Way Hometo become the most successfulSpider-Manmovieever, though the trailers still may have revealed too much.
4Professor X & The Illuminati Appear In The Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Trailer
Patrick Stewart Returned As Charles Xavier In Multiverse Of Madness' Trailer
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’first teaser trailer, which premiered asSpider-Man: No Way Home’spost-credits scene, confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch’s titular Master of the Mystic Arts would be crossing universes. However, it wasMultiverse of Madness’first official trailer, released in February 2022, that confirmed the inclusion of the Illuminati. Among these multiversal heroes, shockingly, isPatrick Stewart’s Professor X, the leader of the X-Men, whose voice and comic-accurate yellow chair can be heard and seen in the movie’s early footage.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessbecame the source of much controversy during its marketing, asmany felt as though the movie’s trailers revealed far too much of the story, and left little mystery. This may have ultimately damaged the movie’s performance, as aDoctor Strangesequel directed by Marvel and horror legend Sam Raimi would have been a huge draw in any other circumstances. It’s a shameDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’trailers ruined so much regarding the Illuminati, but hopefullyDoctor Strange 3’supcoming developmentwill be different.
3Daredevil Returns In She-Hulk: Attorney At Law’s Trailer
Charlie Cox First Appeared As Matt Murdock In Netflix’s Daredevil Series
Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock is one of the most popular properties in the MCU, so it made sense that Marvel would want to showcase Daredevil in July 2022’s official trailer forShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law.The first teasers and trailers for the Phase 4 series received criticism for lackluster visual effects, particularly in the design and rendering of Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk herself. This criticism may have scared Marvel, forcing the studio to include Daredevil in trailers to garner more excitement for the series.
It’s a shame thatShe-Hulk: Attorney at Lawwasn’t to the high quality standards that the MCU has become accustomed to, as this has, in turn, meant thatJennifer Walters' future in the MCUis uncertain. Not even Daredevil’s appearance in the series could have saved it completely, and Charlie Cox’s subsequent appearances in the MCU have, so far, ignored his role inShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Specifically,Daredevil: Born Againwas theorized to include a cameo from Maslany, but it doesn’t seem this will be the case.
2Shuri Shows Off Her Black Panther Suit In Wakanda Forever’s Trailer
Letitia Wright’s Shuri Became The Black Panther After Chadwick Boseman’s Tragic Passing
Released in July 2022, the first teaser trailer forBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverrevealed that someone new would be adopting the Black Panther moniker after Chadwick Boseman’s tragic passing andT’Challa’s mysterious death in the MCU. It wasn’t hard to surmise that this would be Letitia Wright’s Shuri, andBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever’sfirst official trailer, while still not showing her face, revealed the new Black Panther would be a woman of Shuri’s height and physique. In fact, it might have been more impactful for Marvel to avoid confirming a new Black Panther altogether.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’strailers focused primarily on the debut of Tenoch Huerta’s Namor in the MCU, as well as exploring Wakanda’s society and recovery following the death of King T’Challa.This emotional and heartfelt storyline would surely have been enough to get audiences to theaters, so it was unnecessary for Marvel to also hint at the identity of theMCU’s new Black Panther. This could have been saved for the theatrical premiere, which would have created an even bigger surprise for audiences, but Marvel missed the trick.
1Deadpool & Wolverine’s Trailer Confirmed Dafne Keen’s X-23 Return
Dafne Keen First Appeared As Laura In 2017’s Logan
It would have been hard to keep all the cameo appearances inDeadpool & Wolverinea secret, but Marvel Studios didn’t need to deliberately reveal some of the most exciting before the movie’s release, either.The final trailer forDeadpool & Wolverinereleased on July 16, 2025, only a week before the movie’s premiere, and it was this trailer that confirmed the return ofDafne Keen as Laura, a.k.a. X-23, reprising her role fromLogan. We still can’t work out why Marvel ruined this much-anticipated return only a week beforeDeadpool & Wolverinehit theaters.
Marking Ryan Reynolds' debut in the MCU proper and thereturn of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverineseven years after his apparent retirement from the role,Deadpool & Wolverinewas already going to be one of Marvel Studios' most successful movies. There was no need for Marvel to ruin Dafne Keen’s return prior to the movie’s premiere. Luckily, the appearances of Happy Hogan, Blade, Gambit and Henry Cavill’s Wolverine were kept under wraps, but Dafne Keen’s debut in theMarvel Cinematic Universecould have also been left out of this MCU trailer.
